Point loans

I have a couple of kids who came into my class this year with a huge deficit. They had to make it up, and a large number of them did. (One of my students was failing horribly, about 20% on his tests or so, for the first month). A lot of them have put in a huge effort, and managed to get back on level. A couple of those are just a percentage point or two short of where I’d like them to be.

Ordinarily, in the past, I’d give them a point for effort, but this time around, I decided to make a bigger deal out of it.

I’m letting them (qualified students only) borrow a point or two to bring their grade up this semester. They need to make it up to me next semester, by getting a correspondingly higher score to match that grade.

I’ll probably still waffle a bit, but it’s looking like this is a good way to keep the effort those kids have been making as high as possible

What a creative way to deal with grading for special situations with students. I am sure this will get some major buy in from the student who takes out a loan. They will feel like you are giving them the benefit of a doubt- yet are holding them accountable for their learning at the same time. I might have to give this a try. Thanks for sharing!

This is very interesting. I think I will try this. I have a couple of students who are on the edge, failing. I do not want to “give” them the grade, so this gives them the grade, but makes sure they understand they will have to make it up in the coming semester.